Mumbai: The Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Ltd, or Mahavitaran, has appealed to its consumers to pay bills on time. It has said that the electricity bill is not a government tax or tax levied by local self-government bodies; it is the payment for the actual consumption of electricity by consumers. It has said that it is a company that works on ‘no profit no loss’ (revenue neutral) basis, and itself is a consumer. It procures electricity from Mahagenco and other private power companies. However, it has a liability of crores of rupees on electricity purchase, transmission costs as well as various loans and its instalments.
Appealing that Mahavitaran has a mountain of arrears of Rs 71,578 crore, it has said its existence is in question owing to this serious financial crisis. Mahavitaran charges bills from residential, commercial, industrial, agricultural, public services and other consumers only as per the rates fixed by the Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission, and has no option but to disconnect the power supply when consumers have huge arrears of bills.
Though electricity is a basic necessity of daily life, regular payment of bills by consumers does not seem to be the norm, Mahavitaran said. Considering the current state of the company, it has said the consumers
should cooperate by paying their outstanding and current electricity bills.
